Posted on 03/07/2007 11:22:23 AM PST by blam
Pubic lice leapt from gorillas to early humans
18:26 07 March 2007
NewScientist.com news service
Roxanne Khamsi
A genetic analysis of pubic lice suggests the parasites were transferred between early humans and gorillas about 3.3 million years ago.
Researchers say the findings suggest close contact between our ancestors and gorillas. But they claim it is far more likely that early humans caught the lice from sleeping in abandoned gorilla nests than from having sex with gorillas.
Pubic lice – also known as crabs – can leave irritating spots on the skin when they feed on the blood of their hosts. The parasites lack wings and cannot jump like fleas, so they remain stuck on a host until they come into close contact with another individual. Each species of pubic lice thrives on only one host species.
In the first part of the new study, scientists collected Pthirus gorillae lice from primates in Ugandan wildlife sanctuaries. David Reed of the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, US and collaborators then analysed the DNA of these parasites and compared the gene mutations with those seen in the Pthirus pubis lice, which can live in the pubic hairs of modern-day humans.
Close encounters
Humans and gorillas are thought to have last shared a common ancestor 7 to 9 million years ago. Reed says that because gene mutations accumulate over time in both lice species, he expected substantial differences between them. But the DNA analysis revealed the genes of Pthirus gorillae and Pthirus pubis were surprisingly similar.
(Excerpt) Read more at newscientist.com ...
That explains why we have the likes of the clintoons on the human side--MUPLIG (mutated public lice gene)
not even gonna go here.......
TMI, thanks.
Dude, it's lunch time! Be carefull, Red Lobster amy come after you, because crab dish sales plummeted to an all time low!
Must've been one of Bawney Fwank's ancestors.
What will the Geico caveman say??
So easy a caveman can catch it?
That God - he's such a comedian.
Now I have to get back to the Anna Nicole Smith thread and examine the human lice in situ.
Do NOT even go there!
What's not to hate about this article?
Humans get crabs (Ugh. Don't remind me. Not that I'm saying...)
Gorillas get crabs too. (Brightens the day)
People got crabs from gorillas (oh, great), either by:
(a) having sex with gorillas (sounds like a bad idea. Sounds like something not human-initiated. Sounds like the edited out parts of Marlin Perkins. Makes one wonder if there's some other motivation to those crazed gorilla worshippers who hang out in jungles to be with the gorilla bands they study.)
(b) eating dead gorillas. Or, more specifically, eating the parts of dead gorillas that had pubic hair, so they could get public lice. Prehistoric man discovers the hot dog. Perfect. (well, you can just ROCK me to sleep tonight after THAT image)>
(c) Hanging out in abandoned gorilla nests. I suppose that's not so bad, except for the fact that, among all the OTHER things we now have to worry about in the world, getting CRABS from going camping is now on the list. Swell.
Interestingly, they didn't mention a fourth and rather possible scenario...
(d) young male human hunters having sex with DEAD gorillas (lose your lunch yet?)
So, there's a perfectly unlovely set of mental images.
The only saving grace is that at least the article didn't come with any pictures...although my little finger tells me that there's a particular picture coming along now that I've said that, and the juxtaposition of that picture with the idea of crabs will make me - or any other healthy, normal person - vomit, so please don't...
"and the juxtaposition of that picture with the idea of crabs will make me - or any other healthy, normal person - vomit, so please don't..."
Dead, this means YOU.
They're so easy even a caveman would do them!
They will probably spend a lot of time on their new show that is coming, scratchin' their er..uh..lower extremities.
ROFL!
crabs on your organ?
crabs on your organ?
why did i figure that out on my own =(
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